Stores brace for holidays

Many retailers have specials on Black Friday

OMAK  Major retailers throughout the area brace themselves for the busiest shopping day of the year this week.

Some stores feature extended hours and many have special deals and giveaways for Black Friday.

Store manager Andy Keith said Big R takes a bit of a different approach to Black Friday, calling it “Red Hot Friday.”

Big R, 1227 Koala Drive, will be open normal hours, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. All store items — except firearms — will be on sale, rather than having a handful of items with special prices.

The deals will continue Saturday with a “big sale on clearance items,” Keith said.

“We’re just here to have good customer service and have fun with our customers,” Keith said.

Keith said DeWalt drills are always one of the big crowd pleasers during the holidays.

Home Depot, 920 Engh Road, will open two hours earlier than normal for Black Friday. It will have special deals throughout the day, from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. Special sale items are kept secret until the day of the event.

Walmart, 902 Engh Road, will continue to be open 24 hours a day. Its Black Friday events will come in three different waves, with the first deals beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday. The second wave will be at 8 p.m., followed by another set of sale prices beginning at 8 a.m.

Store manager Rich Blakemore said the shopping rushes are typically concentrated around those times. He said the top sellers during the holiday shopping season tend to be electronic items and expects this year to be similar.

In addition to opening early for Black Friday, Prince’s Dept. Store will have special deals, door prizes and giveaways throughout the holiday kickoff event.

The Oroville retailer, 1000 23rd Ave., will be open from 4 a.m. to 9 p.m.

“It will be worth it for anybody who comes in,” owner Jack Hughes said.

For those that plan to get up before sunrise to search for deals, Prince’s will give out coffee to people before the store opens and will serve coffee and donuts inside once the doors open.

“It’s a pretty fun day,” Hughes said. Everybody has a good time.”

Some of the top deals will be on Weber portable gas grills and work boots, Hughes said.

He also said Carhartt pants for boys “are going to be really, really cheap.”

Rawson’s Black Friday event will run for three days at its 212 Second Ave. N., Okanogan location.

DeTro’s Western Store will have some specials for Black Friday.

Owner Mike Lavezzo said the Riverside store, 107 N. Main St., has typically been open the day after Thanksgiving, but the last few years have mostly been business as usual. This year, Lavezzo said he’s rolling out a few extra special deals for the shopping holiday.

The store will be open its normal Friday business hours, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“We are definitely going to have a holiday promotion at Webster’s Furniture,” owner Dan Webster said.

The holiday promotions at Webster’s Furniture will kick off Black Friday, but won’t be limited to one day. The store at 332 E. Main Ave. in Brewster will have specials through the month of December on furniture and appliances.

Hours don’t change, though. Webster’s is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Webster said November and December are not typically the biggest sales months of the year for him, because a lot of the bigger ticket items are not bought as gifts.

He said he has seen people change their shopping habits in recent years, though. The business doesn’t get quite as backed up for deliveries on Christmas Eve the way it once did, he said.

“We don’t see the last minute shoppers that we did 20 years ago,” he said. “Maybe people are planning better.”